Early Voting in 28 States Has Surpassed 2014 Levels

More Americans are taking advantage of absentee and early voting this year, with 39 million ballots already cast nationwide. In 28 states and Washington, D.C., advance vote counts have surpassed those of the last midterm election.

States that have surpassed their 2014 early vote counts

Me.

Mont.

Vt.

N.D.

Minn.

Wis.

Idaho

Wyo.

Mass.

Iowa

N.J.

Nev.

Ohio

Ill.

Ind.

Utah

Md.

W.Va.

Kan.

N.C.

Tenn.

Okla.

Ariz.

N.M.

Ga.

La.

Tex.

Fla.

Me.

Vt.

Mont.

N.D.

Minn.

Wis.

Idaho

Wyo.

Mass.

Iowa

Nev.

N.J.

Ohio

Ill.

Ind.

Utah

W.Va.

Md.

Kan.

N.C.

Tenn.

Okla.

Ariz.

N.M.

Ga.

La.

Tex.

Fla.

Me.

Mont.

Vt.

N.D.

Minn.

Idaho

Wis.

Wyo.

Mass.

Iowa

N.J.

Nev.

Ohio

Ill.

Ind.

Utah

Md.

W.Va.

Kan.

N.C.

Tenn.

Okla.

Ariz.

N.M.

Ga.

La.

Tex.

Fla.

Midterm elections tend to attract lower turnout than presidential contests; in 2016, more than 47 million votes were cast early, compared to 27 million in 2014. Yet this year’s advance vote count — which measures both absentee ballots and in-person early voting — has already exceeded the count from four years ago.

“We’re in uncharted territory with the size of this vote,” said Michael P. McDonald, an associate professor of political science at the University of Florida who tracks early voting. “In some states, it’s closer to the presidential election than to the 2014 midterm election.”

Thirty-seven states and Washington permit some form of early voting, with policies and deadlines varying by state. Most of these states also allow absentee voting.

Populous states like Texas, which has a closely watched Senate race and a handful of competitive House races this year, are giving a big boost to overall advance voting turnout. But early turnout is high even in some states without competitive elections, like Maryland and Louisiana.

Kat Calvin, the founder of Spread the Vote, a nonprofit, sees this increased political engagement as a response to President Trump and his administration’s policies. “Given the state that the country is in right now, there are very few people who don’t know that there is an election coming and that it matters,” she said. “People on both sides are really fired up.”

Where Early Voting Outpaced 2014

In 28 states and Washington, D.C., early voting has gone beyond levels of the last midterms and in some cases has surpassed the total turnout seen four years ago.

Note: Advance vote counts reflect the combined number of early votes and absentee votes. 2018 vote counts are as of Nov. 6 for Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin; as of Nov. 5 for California, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming; as of Nov. 4 for New Jersey and New Mexico; as of Nov. 2 for Idaho, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Texas and Vermont; as of Nov. 1 for Tennessee and Washington, D.C.; and as of Oct. 24 for Indiana. Because of differences in when states report vote counts, the number of days of early voting sometimes includes the latest reporting date and sometimes does not. The 2018 advance vote count for Texas includes only the top 30 counties by voter registration.

Correction: Nov. 2, 2018

An earlier version of the note with this article incorrectly described the source of the vote counts used for Texas. The 2018 advance vote count for Texas includes only the top 30 counties by voter registration, not by population. The graphic also incorrectly stated the number of days of early voting in Texas for which we had data. It was 10 days, not nine.